What is Long Term Athlete Development?

Long Term Athlete Development is a strategy that has the individual athlete placed central to all activity as they make their often faltering steps along the pathway to optimum performance. Regardless of whether the athlete seeks simple enjoyment from participation or has a desire to strive for elite performance, they must be coached in a manner that recognises and works with their unique individuality.

What is currently occurring?

• Parents, teachers and coaches are demanding winners at all ages.
• Most training is competition specific and tactical, aimed at obtaining an immediate result.
• Chronological age is used rather than the athlete’s developmental age.
• Training programs are often watered down adult versions.
• Exercises and loads are selected to improve immediate performance rather than to prepare for future development.
• Competition type and frequency is often not appropriate

What should be happening?

• All sport specific technical development demands certain physical qualities eg: strength, stability and flexibility. It is mandatory that the developing athlete is given the opportunity to develop these physical qualities before competition specific work and technical development is undertaken.
• Training must be based upon the maturation of the individual athlete eg. “Never ask a child to do something of which they are not physically capable.” Training age rather than chronological age should be the focal point.
• Training should progress using the principles of slow to fast, simple to complex, static to dynamic and unloaded to loaded.

What should we do? The solution.

Movement Dynamics has produced a multimedia product demonstrating exercise streams that athletes must master to ensure they achieve the core physical competency required to maximise technical development. It is structured in such a way that the athlete can be coached progressively from primary school age through to their mid-teens. The aim is to support technical development while developing the required physical qualities for long term success.

• Ensure physical development is one step ahead of technical development.
• Work from an exercise syllabus that allows the athlete to ‘earn the physical right’ to move the training forward.
• Establish a long term strategy that covers the entire developmental pathway of the athlete. We must be concerned about their sporting future as well as the present.

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